Living lie
by Ketojan
Summary: The Lone Wanderer awakens to find that the last two years of his life were a lie. His Father never left the Vault, Jonas was never murdered and Denis has a long life to look forward to as one of the Vault's Doctors. As the rules of reality begin to change, will Denis have to accept That he isn't the Lone Wanderer? That he was born in the Vault? That he will die in the Vault?
1. Chapter 1

Denis slowly rolled around inside his bed, groaning under his breath as his eyes slowly opened, squinting as the bright florescent lights molested his sensitive eyes, like a nocturnal or a cave dwelling creature surfacing for the first time.

He groaned heavily as he rolled out of bed, furiously shaking his head, with a heavy sigh as he furiously rubbed at his face. His finger tips dragged over the smooth surface of his cheeks, his hand caught the tuft on his chin, prompting him to gasp as he felt around...

 _This... Is a new one..._ He thought, slowly rising up and shaking his head, wandering over to the nearest mirror and looking his face over, narrowing his... surprisingly not so tired eyes, constantly prodding his face as if he was expecting half of it to fall off and reveal the tattered, scarred and aged face that he was so accustomed to.

He glanced down and noticed that his collar had a bright yellow number on it.

 _'101'_

Denis shook his head and sighed heavily, looking over to the door as his concern grew. Whoever set this up knew him and whoever it was wanted to make this personal. Why else would they go through the trouble of recreating the Vault and setting him up in his old jumpsuit or at least one like it?

The Regulator turned towards his front door and sighed once more, shaking his head in frustration as he stepped on through, staggering out into his hallways as the nostalgia overwhelmed him.

 _What's... What is this!?_

Everything was as he remembered it, hell, some of it wasn't, some of it was even more precise than he remembered. Items that he left out in the open before he was forced to leave the Vault.

Denis heard the front door to his room open, as the doors parted, he saw a familiar figure stood before him. A rather short, African American man with thick framed glasses in a lab coat. He slowly stepped inside, adjusting his pipboy 3000A as he entered.

"Good morning sport, hope I didn't interrupt anything important."

Denis looked at him, freezing on the spot, this... this wasn't possible. Jonas, he couldn't be stood there, Denis saw his body, he saw him lying there, half dead on the floor.

How was this possible?

"Jesus, you look pale as hell boy, is something... Denis!"

The Lone Wanderer staggered over to his couch, falling onto it, clutching his head. Everything seemed featureless, the room had lost all detail for him or, more accurately, he lost the ability to take note of the detail before him.

Jonas quickly rushed around and knelt down before him, looking him in the face.

"Just stay like that for a moment, you probably stood up too fast." Jonas said, looking him over.

"How... Can you be standing there?" Denis asked, his eyes slowly fell on Jonas as he relaxed in the chair.

"Well, I have these things called legs, y'see. They keep me upright..." Jonas said, with his usual smirk. The smart Alec comment just frustrated Denis more, Jonas, he was so... lifelike.

With a heavy growl, Denis lunged forward and snatched Jonas' collar, shoving him forward and pinning him against the wall, staring into his eye.

"Cut the shit, 'Jonas.' I saw you die! So you're quite clearly some sort of... imposter!

Right cut to the dog's dick, tell me what's going on!

 **Now!** "

By this point, Denis was holding Jonas two or more feet off of the floor, pinning him to the wall by his lapels, it was the first time in his life that he'd ever lifted another human being like that but Jonas didn't exactly weigh much, due to his small stature.

"Christ, kid! Settle down before one of us gets hurt! I'm not dead, Denis, I've never been dead! You're acting crazy here!"

"C **razy!?"** Denis snapped, throwing Jonas down to the coffee table, knocking it over in the process.

"You're telling me! This entire situation is fucked, beyond belief!

When I find out who or... what is behind this, you'll see how crazy I am!" He snapped, marching towards Jonas, practically towering over him as he grew more and more enraged.

"Denis." Jonas groaned, slowly pulling himself away from the tipped table.

"I don't know what's gotten into you but you need to calm down, if you're going to-" Jonas' plea was cut short by a boot to the face, sending the Doctor's glasses flying across the room and skidding along it's porcelain surface.

"Cut.

The.

Shit!" He growled, marching over to him.

"What are you? Robot? Synth? That it? Is this a simulation? A reconstruction!?" He yelled, tightening his fist and pulling it back.

"Answer me, you son of a bi-"

Denis' threats were cut short, he received a heavy blow to the head, with a loud wooden 'donk' sound, everything instantly cut out.

Denis' eyes slowly opened, looking straight up at a florescent light. He immediately regretted opening them, prompting him to shake his head, firmly as he slowly sat up, pulling his hand over to his face but finding that he couldn't move it at all.

He heard the sound of metal scraping against metal, it was rather light, prompting him to look up and see that his right hand had been handcuffed to the bed.

"Oh shit..." He grumbled, tugging furiously at it.

"You're fucking kidding me..." He added, obviously irritated from the small surge of pain that he felt as the cuff pinched the skin on his arm.

"It's alright, they'll take them off you, once I leave the room." A voice said, a voice he knew all too well. It was soft, yet confident... it commanded authority and was so... warm.

It was the sound of home...

Denis slowly looked up and saw an older man, who looked a lot like he did. Similar facial structure, similar trimmed beard. Other than the civilized hair cut, it was like looking into the future. Though it would be more accurate to say that it was like looking into the past.

"It's alright Son... I know that you've... Taken a strange turn, Jonas doesn't blame you for what happened, we just want to help."

Denis stared at the apparition for a brief moment, sighing heavily as he hung his head, feeling a sharp sting in his nose as his eyes slowly welled up.

"Why you?" He whispered, to no one in particular.

James just watched, pausing for a moment as he looked away and sighed.

"Well, you hospitalised Jonas... And I thought it would be best if Amata didn't know about this yet, if not at all." he explained, moving his chair closer.

"Do you... know? Is that why you did it?

Because of the baby?"

Denis furrowed his brow, quickly looking up to his father and meeting his gaze for the first time since that day in the rotunda...

He felt himself shiver a little...

"Baby? What're you... What's going on?"

"Well, Jonas came down to tell you that... Amata's pregnant, you're going to be a father..." He paused, giving him a faint chuckle, a product of nerves, to break the tension.

"Congratulations."

Denis paused, glancing down to his Father as he fell back against the wall, letting the 'reality' of this situation sink in for a moment.

"Dad... Can I ask you something, seriously?

Is this real?" He then paused, sitting up, to cut his Father off.

"Is this... reality, are you real. Is this..."

"This is it, I'm afraid. If you didn't want to be a Father, you should've been more careful. Though it's a bit late for that, now."

"No, not... I mean **this!** Everything! You, this... Thie Vault! How is it possible!? How is any of it possible?

You left the Vault, how'd they let you... us back in? How is Jonas here... how are me and Amata...

What happened? Before? To me, to... this place.

To the Wasteland?

I **have** to know!"

James paused, falling silent as he thought on his answer, it was obvious that Denis' mind was all over the place at this moment in time.

"Jonas said that you kept saying that... you saw him die? Was it a... dream? Did you dream everything you said? Or... do you believe it happened?"

"It happened." Denis said, firmly.

"You... Left the Vault, went up to the surface to work on Project Purity."

"Project Purity?" James asked, his confusion was quick, genuine. Much to Denis' dismay...

"I know that we weren't born in the Vault, Dad, I know that you want to give water to the Wasteland, that's what Revelation 2:16 was about, right?

Alpha, Omega, the waters of life? That's what it... all lead up to."

"I... Know that you have reason to doubt me, about what I've said to you, over the years. But I've never lied about you or your mother.

We were all born down here, in Vault 101, none of us have set foot outside of the door and none of us will be able to for a hundred years. Outside is an irradiated green cloud, that will kill you in minutes.

Water is the least of their concern, right now..."

Denis shook his head, resting it in his free hand, there were only so many levels that he could chase up on before he sounded completely insane. This whole thing just seemed... Bizarre, insane even, yet the scary part was that it... made sense.

Or at least, he wanted it to.

"Can I...?" James began, pausing for a brief moment to reconsider before going through with it anyway.

"Maybe you're... Suffering from delusions, created by a desire to escape life in the Vault. Maybe your life down here is so, ordinary and routine that you created a world to escape to, a fantasy that became too much and blinded your perception of reality.

I mean, what kind of person are you, in this... Wasteland of yours? Are you a... hero?"

Denis paused, normally he'd deny being a 'hero' but given how often he came across as a 'white knight' and how often he threw himself into danger, to save others. He'd be nothing but coy if he tried to do that now.

"More or less..."

"You wish to do more, for yourself and for those around you. Vault life just doesn't seem like... it gives you many opportunities to do this, right?"

"I... Suppose." Denis shrugged, looking away.

"How did me and Amata become a thing, anyway?"

James chuckled, bringing his hands together with a smile and a faint laugh.

"Well, that was me and Jonas' doing. We got you to be her stand in consultant, she was having trouble and we figured that a friend who was qualified to help her with those troubles was the best of both worlds.

You ended up giving eachother a... thorough examination."

Denis smirked, chuckled even as he shook his head , sighing heavily as he lay back.

"Isn't there a law against that? Pretty sure that Doctors aren't allowed to get... frisky with their patients, not during a medical session anyway."

"Pfft... That's why we don't tell Alphonse." James pointed out, with a faint smirk.

"Is this... all starting to come back to you?"

Denis paused, eventually shaking his head, with a sigh.

"I wish it was, Dad, I really do... This whole thing is...

I don't know, I just don't know how I should feel about it, about you or us or Amata or anything. My life was... This life, it was destroyed. This just doesn't seem real, I can't remember anything that happened."

"You might have blocked those memories out, you and I can work on it. Until then, do you think that you can keep yourself under wraps?" He asked, slowly rising to his feet.

"Heh, I'm sure I can.

I'm sorry, for everything...

I didn't..."

"I know Son, it's fine. Nobody is holding anything against you."

"What about the Overseer?" Denis asked, finding it difficult to believe that Alphonse would look such a thing over, though, then again, he was his potential son in law.

"I've taken care of it." James assured him, slipping a small key into Denis' hands.

"You just, take care of yourself, okay?" He added as Denis released himself, rubbing his wrist.

"I erm... Will, thanks Dad."

"Take your time, when you're ready, you can head back to your room."

With that, James left the room, stepping through the mechanical door, where Officer Gomez immediately awaited him, their eyes met as the door shut and James was able to step around to the observation window.

"I appreciate you doing this for us, Gomez. I know the risks of putting yourself forward like this... I appreciate it."

"Heh, don't worry about it." Gomez shrugged, stepping in beside the Doctor, with a sigh.

"Denis is a good kid, I honestly didn't believe it was him until I got a look at his face. I thought it was one of those tunnel snake punks, shaking Jonas down for coupons.

That and... I know the Overseer, he'd probably have Denis detained, isolated or worse, treated like a criminal. Kid's got enough on his plate, clearly."

"That he does." James agreed, glancing over to the Officer.

"He believes that the last two... maybe even three years of his life has been a lie. I had no idea that he was losing his grasp on reality like this."

"It's always the one you least suspect." Gomez shrugged, keeping his gaze fixed on the Wanderer as he slowly rose to his feet and wandered over to the door.

"Somehow, I think that something else is going on here." James said as the door opened and Denis stepped inside, prompting the Good Doctor to give him an affectionate nod and a soft smile before walking away, leaving him and Gomez alone.

"C'mon, let's... get you home.

Your coffee table survived, by the way."

"Oh thank Christ." Denis sighed, sounding almost genuinely relieved.

"For a minute there, I thought I wouldn't have anything to rest my feet on."


	2. Chapter 2

**A:N/ Sorry this took so damn long, I've been really busy with a number of projects as I've started writing a book, that I plan to publish. I'm afraid that double dissapointment must come from the fact that I was hoping to make this a two part story but that might not be the case now, might have to be more parts than I originally intended. This won't be a Peace and Future Cannon Fodder case, where it's like 10+ parts though (PROMISE!)**

 **Annieway, enjoy this chapter and I hope to have another chapter out there soon. Thanks so much for the reviews, I felt truly humbled to get so much positive feedback from people on this one. I hope that all of them get to see the ending, if they liked it as much as they said they did. :)**

 **Thanks! :)\\\**

Denis didn't sleep at all that night, which wouldn't be a problem, if his ordeal hadn't exhausted him. The Regulator's eyes constantly shifted in the dark, feeling like a child again, waiting for something to go bump in the night.

For the first time in his life, he had no idea what was out there, he had no idea what to expect.

Eventually, he sighed and rolled out of bed, furiously rubbing at his face as he doubled over. It was an odd feeling, that he struggled to put his finger on... Could it be that the reason that he didn't know what to expect was that he knew nothing? That all of the threats of yesterday were now... figments of his imagination.

Supermutants... What were they, without an image to put them to? The ramblings of a comic geek with a huge imagination. There were just too many things that bothered him, not just the lack of threat but the lack of... anything. Yes, he lost his old life, leaving the Vault but he had a new one. Megaton, Harden, Bryan Wilkes... It was all gone.

Or more accurately, it never even happened to begin with.

Denis sighed, realising that he had gone full circle as he staggered out into his room. He took a seat on his couch and hung his head, sighing heavily as he did so...

The worst part was that he didn't even know if he hated this... Did he want to give it all up? A life of safety, the Father he lost? The life that was stolen from him?

Even if this was an illusion, a dream... It was still a good dream, a second chance at a life that he didn't realise how much he missed it. How simple and... easy it all was.

Though, that was part of his distress, it was simply too easy...

Denis slowly curled up onto the couch, sighing heavily as he stared at his table, wondering... thinking and then over thinking, until he finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The Lone Wanderer's dreamless sleep was interrupted the following morning, by two loud clangs, coming from behind him. He slowly sat up and brought his hand to his head, shaking it heavily as he adjusted to this new world, slightly disappointed that it wasn't all a dream.

At least that would have been... Easier.

It wasn't so much that this could all be real that scared him anymore... it was that he wanted it to be, he wanted it to be real so badly that he wasn't sure how he'd be able to take it if he found out it wasn't.

His eyes fell onto the coffee table, seeing a small bit of blood on it, dry from Jonas' impact on one of its corners...

Denis' eyes fell further, straight to the floor as he hung his head, feeling increasingly guilty.

Jonas...

Page Break

It was then that he heard the familiar sound of a mechanical door opening, prompting him to look back, over his shoulder. He honestly didn't know why to expect at this point, so he didn't even try and guess...

There he saw her, dark brown hair, tied back in a bun, the curvy outline of her body as she stepped inside his room. However, she seemed almost... hesitant.

"It's okay Amata..." He muttered, turning his attention back to the table.

"You can come in."

Still hesitant, Amata eventually stepped inside Denis' room, constantly examining her surroundings as she approached him. She could tell that something had happened in here, so many things that had been untouched for years had been moved or damaged during Denis' rampage...

"Are you...?" She began, stopping just next to him and resting a hand on his shoulder, meeting his gaze as he looked up to her. His eye met her's, prompting him to stop as his lips parted, leaving his mouth slightly agape.

"Okay?" She finished, prompting Denis to close his lips again, with a faint nod as he stared ahead. He hated being treated like a mental patient but looking at what his rebellious nature had caused to a potentially resurrected loved one, it was... too much.

"You seem different..." She observed, as she gently sat down beside him, continuing to rest her hand on him.

"The way you look at me, I... I'm not sure that I can describe it."

Denis paused before turning to face her again, he eventually paused, forcing a smile.

"Nice to see you to, Amata." He said, in response, getting a faint laugh out of her.

"Sorry but you... Well, I did hear that you had done some... Worrying things with Jonas and... I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"I am." Denis said, glancing up to her.

"I'm not a threat to you or the baby, I just... Went into a bit of a panic, that's all." He explained, trying to not sound crazy, thought this brought her more concern.

"Did you... Panic, because of the baby?" She asked, she seemed so put out that she wasn't like the Amata that he remembered but how could he blame her, when he had just assaulted someone?

"No... Not at all, I wasn't even aware of the baby at this point." Denis explained, with a sigh, he hung his head and paused as he tried to think of a way to explain it, without sounding too insane...

"It's... Okay, what would you do if you woke up in the Wasteland tomorrow and were told that this conversation never happened? That the baby never happened, that your father was dead and so was I and that you now had a life, out in the wasteland. You had a husband, maybe a kid... A life but it's not yours, it's a life that you've just had sprung on you and no matter how preferable or horrible it might seem, compared to how you live now, you just have to accept that it's reality now." He paused, keeping his gaze fixed on her.

"What would you do?"

Amata said nothing, what could you say to such a strange hypothesis... all she could do was pause and think, think of a comforting answer.

"You... Believed that you weren't born in the vault?" She asked, trying to make sense of it.

"No, I was... I wasn't born in the vault but I grew up in it, from my understanding of reality, my Father left two years ago, his departure caused the vault to be invaded by radroaches... Your Father blamed me, tried to have me killed but thankfully people like you and Gomez were there to help me.

I... was exiled, had to make a life for myself outside. I did and... now I'm back here, none of it happened." He explained, turning his attention back to the table.

"Two years of... fighting to stay alive, fighting skirmishes, battles... hell, even wars and I wake up to find that none of it happened." He paused, looking up to him.

"But it did happen! I saw Paladin Cross, a woman like my own mother, have her arm blown off and bleed out in my arms! I... Tore people apart with my bare hands, like an animal, just to make it through the night! Hell, I blew some poor defenseless woman's head off, because I thought she betrayed me.

It's all real to me! I still dream about those... monstrous nests, that the mutants made, where the walls feel like they're alive, because they're coated in the dripping wet flesh of the dead. I remember the stink of a Trogg's breath!

I... I remember what made it worth it." He paused, no longer caring, he felt himself go hollow, shaking a little as the grime slowly peeled off him, like the shell on a nut, revealing the scarred Vault Dweller inside...

"I remember seeing a guy, Carlos, drinking clean water for the first time... I remember seeing that huge door lift off of the Citadel, the first time I set foot in it and I remember freeing the people of Pittsburgh from their Slaver Masters." He explained, eventually making eye contact.

"It all seemed... worth it, up until now. Now it's just..."

Amata shook her head, forcing Denis' hand into his and looking him in the eye.

"Denis, Denis look at me." She insisted, at the snap of a finger, she had his undivided attention as their eyes interlocked. He paused, waiting for some sense, some... reason not to lose it, not to lose everything in one collosal freak out.

"Did you have a family in this world? A wife? A child?" She asked, this got him to pause, though the answer was bleedingly obvious.

"No." He admitted, plainly, slowly looking to the ground as he swallowed his fear back.

"Nothing like that..."

"Did you have the safety of a Vault? Heating? Clean food and drink? Great healthcare?"

"Not always."

She then grabbed him and made him face her fully now, staring into his war torn eyes.

"Did you have me?"

Denis felt himself relax as he continued to stare into her eyes. He had always wondered how he and Amata had become a thing until now. He could feel it, he felt safe in her hands, like he was the size of a small roach and her delicate hands gently cupped around him to keep himself.

"No." He said, answering her question, after a brief moment and finally managing to break eye contact once again. This seemed to be all that Amata needed to hear, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him and locking lips with the Regulator as she kissed him deeply. She held the kiss for, what felt like, a thousand years before eventually prying their mouths apart as she went back to gazing, lovingly, into his eyes.

"It was worth it..." She whispered, prompting Denis to do something that he hadn't done naturally for three years.

He smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

There's a thing in science fiction known as 'the Bootstrap paradox.'

The best way to put it is through a story, so imagine you have a childhood memory. You were in danger and a stranger comes to save you, however, you always wanted to know who it was, so you go back in time to observe the scene again.

However, there's a slight catch, the stranger never shows up.

You wait and you wait but he never shows, you can see yourself, the situation becoming more and more dire with each passing second, you realise that help isn't coming. So, you step in, intervene, save yourself and become the hero.

However, now the question must be asked… Who saved you? In order for you to be there, you must've been saved by yourself and for you to have been saved by yourself you must've survived that initial encounter but how could you if it rests solely on manipulation of space and time?

That is the paradox…

Denis paced around his room, running his hands through his hair as he rubbed, furiously at his eyes. Today was the day, the **big** day! Grandma Taylor's check-up.

In order to test the fabric of this new reality, Denis had to apply some outside knowledge to it. Grandma Taylor, Agnus Taylor, was diagnosed with a rare heart condition known as Wolf-Parkinson White. It went mostly under the radar, even by his Father but that was about to change.

If Denis could fix her heart, he would create a bootstrap Paradox. Possibly the first in history. This could either tear a hole in time and space as they knew it or, alternatively, it could give him a better standing of this new world.

With a deep breath, the Lone Wanderer stepped over to his wardrobe, snatching his doctor's coat off of it. A white lab coat, which felt like such a step down from his old duster.

He missed its weight, how important he felt when he put it on. These feelings felt so… far away now.

Why did this bother him? He had his life back and here he was getting all nostalgic over a damn coat!

It was coming up to a week since his life had returned to this state and already, he had grown complacent. He had almost forgotten the burn of irradiated water in his throat. He had almost forgotten the pain of a bullet grazing him or the cold of tweezers, digging into his wounds.

That nightmare was once his life and yet, oddly, he missed it. If only these worlds could come together, to make one perfect world of joy and adventure? Instead, he had this infernal either/or situation.

The Regulator stepped out, into the hallway, passing Butch along the way. He almost greeted him as a friend but then remembered who he was…

"Hey Butch."

"Hey… Denis! You gotta come and see me about that hair man, it's a mess!"

This got a faint chuckle out of Denis as he wondered what he had said or done to earn Butch's respect. It was difficult to tell…

"Hell, at least it doesn't look like it's been frozen in time." He shrugged, giving Butch a faint smirk as he looked to his Teddy-boy haircut. The Leather-clad Tunnel Snake just gave him the finger as he entered the Doctor's office.

"The Doctor is in!" Denis yelled, rubbing his hands together.

Jonas stepped out, giving Denis a faint grin as he shook his head, feeling a strange sense of pride from finally seeing the boy in his lab coat.

"Right, where's Grandma Taylor? Have I got time to clean my instruments?" Denis asked before looking around and seeing that the old woman was sat directly next to him, getting him to shudder a little, due to being startled.

"Ah! Good, if you'll follow me through to the operating theatre…"

"Wait… **You** are doing this? **Alone!?** " Jonas hissed as he stepped forward, stopping just short of him and looking to Mrs Taylor.

"We'll be with you shortly, please, place your things over there..."

"Is everything alright?" Agnus asked, getting a hurried nod from the two of them.

"Sorry, yeah… Slight schedule conflict. One of us will see you in a moment." Denis assured her, it did the trick as she shuffled into her corner, rather hurriedly. The two of them stood, grinning at her, like fools until she was out of earshot…

"Are you mad? You have no experience!" Jonas hissed, making sure that his back was to Grandma Taylor to avoid panicking her.

"I **do** have experience! I operated on a man with two broken pieces of metal on a factory floor once, with machinery screaming down my ear! I can handle this!" Denis insisted, not really appreciating Jonas' lack of faith.

"Denis, that was a dream. A dream where I was dead! You cannot be serious about using that as examples of 'experience.'"

"Why not? Even if it didn't happen, I remember how I did it. Isn't that was experience is?"

"What if it's nothing like that?"

"Then I'll have you and Dad on standby, I guess." Denis shrugged as he looked over to Grandma Taylor.

"Okay, Miss Taylor, if you can… undress, that would be great."

"It's been a long time since a young man requested that of me… Is it…. I mean, you know what you're doing, right?"

"Of course." Denis shrugged, leaning against the wall.

"Seriously, it'll be over in the blink of an eye and that's just for me. For you? You won't even have blinked."

The Elderly woman laughed as she wriggled out of her jumpsuit, which elegantly slid off of her wrinkly shoulders. As he looked at her, he found himself wincing, looking away.

Sat up, arm suspended by her side… She looked JUST like Paladin Cross as she took her dying breath, lay against the wall as she went into shock. He arm lay completely limp by her side blood dribbling all over it as her lip trembled furiously, trying to utter final words, words of meaning but failing to get anything out.

Did that woman exist? Was her kindness merely a story inside Denis' head? The blood on his hands, the blood that he still sees, whenever he looks at them, is that a story as well?

There's the age old question; 'who dreams the dreamer?' and yes, Denis was the dreamer but that didn't bother him, it bothered him that all of the lives lost, saved, the lessons learned they were just the dream. They could've been anyone, anything…

Money found on a bench, a dead relative sat in the corner of the room and living on like they always did or even something insane that evades all logical reasoning.

These were lives, human lives. This was Denis' life and it was all a lie! He walked through hell, he called hell 'home' and now? Now he was homesick…

'Hellsick'

He missed the living lie…

Denis stepped into his quarters, sighing heavily and dropping onto a couch, with Grandma Taylor making a recovery in the medical wing, Denis had nothing to worry about. He was ready to call it a day…

When was the last time he called it a day? Couldn't even remember… Here, he had nothing to do but sit there, vegetating on the couch and thinking of his day.

No wonder so many people became addicted to pain killers before the war.

"Denis?" Amata asked as she stepped out of her room, her jumpsuit had been unzipped and had rolled down her back, the arms of it were tied up around her waist, leaving her in her undershirt. Her exposed stomach showed the slightest hint of a bump, Denis' bump…

"You're home early… Is everything okay?"

Denis couldn't help but smile as he glanced to it, his child… two words he never thought he'd hear.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah." He assured her, rising to his feet.

"Just did some surgery. Just some radiofrequency catheter ablation, pretty… basic, boring shit really. How was your day?" He asked, cutting his ramblings short.

"Heh… You always did that… back when we were kids, you'd always try to sound clever." Amata pointed out, with a smirk.

"Then act like it's nothing."

"Well, it is nothing." Denis shrugged.

"I am clever."

"Then how come I outsmarted you?" Amata asked, moving in a little closer.

"I always find a way to…"

"I let you." The Regulator said, matter-of-factly.

"If I lose to you, you'll likely get excited and have your way with me. Win-Win."

"Oh? What if next time you lose, you end up sleeping on the couch?" Amata asked, with a rather dark grin.

"I wouldn't mind that, couch, bed… engine room. Whenever you want to have your way with me, I'm always happy to receive it."

Amata lost it a little, giggling softly to herself as she backed away.

"It's been quite… Lonely today. I'd leave the house but I don't know where to go or what to do and my Dad insists on having guardsmen watch me like hawks to make sure nothing happens. It honestly drives me **insane!** "

"You can't blame him… He lost your mom, didn't he?" Denis pointed out, taking a seat on the couch.

"My Dad would be the same… If he had guards and if I allowed it. Well, not so much allow more… if the guards didn't end up going back to him with nothing to report, because they were knocked out for three hours." Denis paused.

"I'd have fun with 'em… Knock them out, put them in a locker in an awkward position and leave them to sort it out."

Amata cackled, taking a seat next to him as she put her arm around the back of his neck.

"I take it that Mister Kendal would get a mouth full?"

"Dunno, depends where I decide to put him." The Regulator shrugged as Amata moved in a little closer, chuckling a little more.

"It's… So good to have you back…"

"Back?" Denis asked, quickly looking back down to her.

"Did I… Go somewhere?"

"Yeah… In your head you did. I honestly thought I'd made a mistake that you'd be in prison for the rest of your life but… thankfully everything is… looking brighter than ever. You're ten times the man I thought you were…"

Denis paused, sighing heavily as he rested his cheek on her forehead, glancing up to the ceiling.

"You know… In my dream? We weren't married…"

"Oh? We had a spat?" Amata asked, slowly closing in the gap between them as she cuddled up to the Lone Wanderer.

"Yeah… You could say that. You exiled me, oh, you were the overseer by the way."

"Overseer? Wait, why'd I exile you?" She asked, quickly looking up at him.

"Erm… Long story… My Dad left the vault, opening the door let roaches inside, they killed people, everyone blamed me and you kicked me out to avoid the stigma."

"Wow… I'm a bitch." Amata sighed, slowly moving away and sitting up straight.

"Tell me you punched me in the face."

Denis smiled at her as he leant back, looking her directly in the eyes as his hand wrapped around her's, being mindful of the Pipboy dial.

"I could never do that…"

"Not even with permission?"

"Nope, not even then."

She paused, glancing back to their bedroom again before rising to her feet and gently tugging at Denis' hand.

"We should… Get to bed, get up early and… Well, go out for breakfast, enjoy ourselves for once, y'know?"

Denis nodded, seeming rather happy with that idea as he rose to his feet, giving her the most slightest of smiles.

"I'll be with you in a moment." He assured her, getting her to nod as she walked off, leaving Denis alone in the living room. He went straight to the bathroom and stepped inside, kicking the door shut behind him as he wandered over to the mirror.

He opened the cabinet and immediately grabbed at the tooth paste, slamming the cabinet shut again as he reached for his toothbrush. He stared at his reflection as he grasped at it, however, his reflection quickly faltered as his ears became overwhelmed by a chime.

His face became far more weathered, far grimier and he had a full beard and incredibly messy hair. He wasn't wearing a doctor's coat anymore but a tattered, old brown duster and his skin was somewhat rougher, with a deep scar jutting out of his hairline.

He froze as he heard the chimes, followed by a wince inducing buzzer sound, which made him stumble back, finding himself unable to pick up the tooth brush as he stumbled back. His reflection returned to normal and he found that reality had returned to normal.

Whatever normal was…

Denis took several deep breaths as his attention slowly lifted back up to the mirror. He swallowed hard as he saw himself grow more and more pale by the second.

 _No… Please no…_


	4. Chapter 4

Denis was quick to lunge forward, gently tapping every surface he could find. Toilet, toilet brush, that weird brush for scrubbing your toe nails with.

Nothing…

He tried the tooth brush again, hearing it charm, things started to distort again as he saw his own reflection, the ragged wild man stood before him. Seemingly expecting something, he stared at his younger self with an impatient frown before flickering back into the very face that he was judging.

Then he heard the buzzer…

The buzzer indicated that the wrong trigger had been hit. Where were the others though? Before the pattern was completely nonsensical and if there's a pattern in the vault, that could mean any object in the vault.

"Denis?" Amata called, quickly knocking on the door.

"Are you okay in there? What's that noise?"

The Wastelander's eyes slowly fell on the door, prompting him to sigh heavily as he stepped on over to it, opening it up and staring down on her. Amata was clearly shocked by his expression, both saddened and angered at the same time as if he was confused how to feel entirely.

In truth, he was. He solved the mystery, he must have, though… What exactly was he going back to? Mutants? Raiders? There was a girl here, with a baby… If she isn't a simulation, what sort of life would he be leaving her to live?

"I need to… To go." He muttered, stepping out of the bathroom and quickly feeling a faint tug on his arm.

"Denis? What the hell's gotten into you!?" Amata was seemingly worried and she had every reason to be. Her crazy boyfriend had gone off the rails again, now she was wondering if the Father of her baby should be reported to security or not.

"Please… I'm just going to go for a walk, clear my head. I had… Something occurred to me, I need to speak to your Father."

"Now!? Denis he's…"

"I don't care, this is important."

With that, the Regulator marched out, ready to face the Overseer, his plan was a long shot but it was a shot at least…

More than most get…

Alphonse sat with an intrigued look on his face as he leant forward and brought his hands together.

"So… Please, allow me to get this straight for you, Mister Callaghan…" He began in his usual condescending tone as he pretended to reference a few papers.

"You say you had a dream… In the dream, you encountered a substance that is most likely fiction and you found this fictional substance or a trace of it, in your bathroom and you're now asking for full access to my vault in order to search for this, most likely, fantasy virus.

Have I… Summed it up?"

"Yep! Nail/Head!" Denis assured him, doing the actions with his hands and clicking his tongue.

"So, how about it?"

The Overseer stared at him for a few moments before sitting up, sighing heavily as he looked away.

"You're even crazier than my security team let on…"

"I bet I'm crazier than that… But look, this is important. I don't know how it's gotten in but it's left traces all over the vault, Forced Evolutionary Virus has leaked in through a crack, leading through to the outside world and it could potentially cause mutations in our residents."

This was of course, complete garbage, from a scientific perspective. Denis was fully aware of this, however, right now, he was the only one in the world who understood the concept of the FEV Virus.

FEV Virus… How redundant. Didn't the President call it that? Forced Evolutionary Virus Virus… Yeah, nice one, El Presidente.

"Look, what harm can I do? I'm not a thief or anything, I'm a scientist, a doctor, a man of the law." He then paused, realising that he wasn't the latter anymore…

"Well, I was in my dream… The point is though, the worst I'll do is poke a few objects and look a tit but I'm telling you, objects are practically bristling with FEV, one of those objects was **your** daughter's toothbrush!

It could've hurt my baby, your grandchild!" Denis then paused, taking in a deep breath.

"C'mon Alphonse, if you can't trust me, that's fine, I get that but I'm the father of your grandchild now. That has to mean **something!** "

Alphonse leant back in his chair, bringing his thumb and forth finger to his chin as he thought on it a little.

"Hmm… You're counting a lot on that holding any weight, aren't you?"

"No, I've seen what you'd do to Amata, if put under the right amount of pressure… Though you don't want her to die or your grandchild. **That** is what I put my weight on."

The overseer paused, taking in a deep breath and sighing heavily.

"Fine, I'll have Officer Kendal look into it tomorrow morning…"

"Not good enough, **I** need to do this."

"I should think not. I have security professionals on standby… You're a madman, with a history of violence. I'm not giving you a free pass to go where you please."

Denis paused, glancing down to his feet.

"Please just be a simulation…" He murmured, resting his head on his thumb and forth finger, getting a confused glare from Alphonse.

"Oh, here we go… Look, young man, I know you like the idea that a life of responsibility isn't the life for you. That the rules of the world don't apply to you but you're just going to have to accept your own reality.

You _really_ don't want to be a problem for me…"

Denis paused, glancing up, that sounded like a threat. A threat on his life, no less.

"Oh, you are right. Completely and utterly right." Denis assured him as he rose to his feet.

"Which is why you'll never have any problems ever again!"

With that, Denis drove a screwdriver down into Alphonse's neck, prompting him to stiffen and choke as the improve blade stuck inside his torso and a small pool of blood leaked from the wound, making his vault suit a little more purple, with each passing second.

"T-Traitor…" The older man spluttered, with each 'T' uttered, a small spittle of blood sprayed up into the air and fell straight back down to his lap. Denis immediately let him go, falling back into his chair.

"Oh, get over it! You never trusted me anyway, nor I you. It was only a matter of time before one of us had to kill the other. It's just a shame that I'm more efficient at it than you are."

"C-Cold blooded… Little shit…" Alphonse gasped as he tried to stand up, quickly collapsing to the ground.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better. You're a copy, real you thankfully exists in the world… locked away, safe from me…" Denis murmured as he crouched down and slowly drew Alphonse's key from his pocket.

He found himself pausing and sighing heavily as he watched Alphonse struggle for breath, an egotistical jackass, whose pride was so badly wounded that it was killing him…

It was almost sad to watch…

"I'm sorry, Overseer." Denis finally sighed as he pocketed the key.

"I really am… In truth? I… I don't know if this is real or not, just that I **really** want it to be a dream now. They say that it's real if you can feel and I can feel here but I've felt in plenty of other, not real, places.

If I'm right…. You will still be alive, when I get out of here. If not?" He slowly rose to his feet and glanced down on the Overseer as he stopped moving altogether and gave his last breath.

"Then it was nice knowing you, I guess…" Denis murmured as he turned around and walked away.

Denis tapped wildly around the room, his hands drummed from one surface to another, without rhythm or rhyme as he tried to find a static but interactive surface.

"C'mon, c'mon..." Denis murmured as he felt around, trying desperately to find it before Alphonse was found, stuffed in a locker.

There were few things that would work as a static objects, people would have to interact with them... Unless there was some sort of perception filter on it. Maybe the sink?

Denis tried it and nothing happened, prompting him to sigh heavily as he rose to his feet, prompting the door to open and make him look around as officer Gomez stepped in.

"Denis? What... What're you doing, snooping around the bathroom?" He asked, taking his hand off of his gun and pausing as he looked down at the floor.

"Looking for small pockets of radioactive activity." Denis admitted, rising to his feet and waving his pipboy.

"Figured I'd best check in here, now, instead of when it's occupied."

"Right..." The Security Guard murmured, he seemed incredibly sceptical.

"Have you done?"

"More or less, I was on my way out." The Regulator said, tapping the nearest surfaces before stepping out.

"Can you cover me? I need to try the ladies room."

"Erm... Okay but hurry up, it's not going to look remotely good if we're caught."

"It's 3AM, who's going to catch us?" Denis asked as he opened the door and revealed a large white room, prompting him to widen his gaze. The room was completely white, not a single surface or object resided inside...

"Holy shit..." He murmured, swallowing as he stepped inside. His steps were quite tentative has he carefully rested his foot on the ground, doing his best to avoid falling in if there was nothing at all. Thankfully, it was solid ground...

"Ooooh... I see! I've never been in here before! I've never even looked!" Denis realised as he stepped out, running his hands through his hair.

"This must be the control room for the simulation!" With that, he rushed out, forgetting that Gomez was stood behind him and walking into him.

"What the hell are you yelling about?" Gomez asked, trying to look him in the face.

"Simulation!? Denis, please, tell me that you aren't digging this shit up again..."

"N-No, I meant stimulation, for the dangerous chemicals." The Regulator said, in an attempt to save himself.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just... worried about the Vault right now. I'll keep the craziness to a minimum. I just need to touch everything in the Vault to ensure that it's not dangerous."

"If it is?"

"I'll know by touch."

"Isn't touching dangerous stuff... Y'know… Dangerous?" Gomez asked as he looked around, somewhat bewildered.

"Yes but leaving it unchecked is more so…" Denis pointed out as he continued to tap around the room, he was aware that from a third person perspective he would look like he had ADHD and had gone cold turkey on his meds but considering that his very reality hung in the balance, people can think what they want about him…

"Are you... Sure that this is a good idea?" Gomez asked, prompting Denis to look around.

"You seem all over the place."

Denis quickly stopped in his tracks and sighed heavily, shaking his head and leaning against the wall.

"Oh, Gomez…" He muttered, his gloved pip-boy hand slowly slid down his face, he revelled in the slight bit of pain caused by the friction.

"You know, I always liked you…" He turned his attention fully on the Security Officer now, who looked down on him with rather concerned eyes.

"Denis… You aren't… Losing it again, are you? The delusions? You're not…"

"Gomez… I'm not going to lie. The delusions are looking so good right now, just to slip back into a whole fake world. A world where I can do no wrong, where I'm surrounded by friends and family, a family that I built up myself for years.

You have no idea what I'd give to… to just spend one more day in that life, just… running free without having to worry about my responsibilities dragging me down. Not having to worry about other people, not having to care about what I eat." He paused, shaking his head and stepping forward as he slapped a hand on the officer's shoulder, looking him in the eye.

"But the Wasteland, the real world? It… _needs_ me. Before I got there, it was sizzling with injustice, people were afraid to leave their homes or travel and now? It's just… So much better and it can only get better.

I just… Don't know, how much of this I can forgive anymore. It was one thing tricking me, making me doubt myself and it was another thing entirely baiting me with the life that… I didn't always want but the life that I was meant to have.

But now? The only way to get out of here is to hurt those I love… Friends, lovers, even my own flesh and blood… If I'm right, they'll just be puppets, created by a computer but… fuck man, seeing your Father die twice or your wife cry? These are just things that…"

He swallowed hard as he stepped back, looking away.

"Not even I can repress them, it's basic human impulse to care for your family and friends, your home turf… This bastard, this… sick fucking piece of shit, he's using that against me."

Denis stepped away, noticing that Gomez was now shaking, prompting him to slowly remove the screwdriver, that he forced into his abdomen, he looked to him with a pained gaze as he watched the security officer fall to his knees and eventually guided him to the floor.

"D-Denis…" He murmured.

"Wh-What have you done?"

"Gomez, I'm sorry but you aren't real, none of this is real! It can't be! It's all…"

"They'll never let you go… They'll… kill you…"

"There's no consequence, if I get out of here… Other than having to live with myself, I've lived with a lot worse.

You… Really have no idea how sorry I am, I know you think you're real and… in my head, you **are** real but the second that I leave? You're dying anyway… You might as well die as a man instead of a line of code."

"No…" He whispered again, slowly looking up to Denis with a smirk, a knowing smirk that caught the Lone Wanderer of guard.

"They're going to kill you… You'll go back to day one, like last time and the time before…" Gomez stopped to cough, spitting some blood across the floor.

"You're already dead, Denis… And there's no escaping hell…" This was the last that Gomez could say before his life signs faded, prompting him to leave one last, long, elongated breath as his final impression on the earth…

Black boots pounded the floor as Vault 101's security team converged on Denis' location, guns at the ready. This prompted the Regulator to draw Gomez' from his holster and pull the latch back as he saw the three guardsmen congregate at the far end of the small corridor, weapons primed and ready.

Already, this was beginning to look a lot more like the reality that he came from…

"C'mon Denis, surrender! Nobody else has to die!" The middle officer insisted, stepping forward as his comrades made sure that the target was definitely in their sites. Denis simply stared at them, pulling the slider back as his eyes narrowed.

"Whoever you are, whatever you are… Know this." He said, not even addressing the guards as people anymore.

"You may destroy me…" He began before raising his pistol and taking a shot, sending a 10mm round straight into the center guard's throat.

"But I will **not!** " He yelled, voice breaking into an almost manic scream as he quickly changed target to the second one, firing off another shot before the others had a chance to shoot.

 ** _"LIVE…"_** He fired off again, this time hitting the second security guard but not being able to stop the third one from firing and hitting Denis in the hip, causing him to stumble back, crying out in pain as his legs shook furiously, prompting him to use the wall for support with his armed hand, whilst suppressing the wound with the other. However, this proved to be little by way of an obstruction as he quickly raising his pistol again.

 ** _"In FEAR!"_**

He then fired off, one last time, with the security guard's head in the sites, knowing that the illusion was finally broken, he felt something that he hadn't felt since he awoke in this deceptive place…

Hope…


	5. Chapter 5

Denis shivered as the needle of the stolen stimpak entered his wound, the usual hiss that assured him that everything was going to be fine didn't seem to do its job today. If what Gomez said was true, dying wasn't the worst thing that could happen to you in this place.

He had enough ammo now to take down the entire security force, assuming that the simulation couldn't spawn more or resurrect the dead. It was odd but for the first time in his life, his enemy wore the faces of friends and family, if anything it was worse than the last time he had to fight his way out.

Fighting his way out wasn't necessary at this point, all he had to do was find the objects and he could go home. This prompted him to look around, finally taking in where he was.

Denis had taken refuge in his Dad's office, if his theory was correct, this place's activation codes were all connected to him. As a result, Denis began to tap around, feeling for any sign of anomaly, though he quickly paused as he saw his Dad's old bobblehead.

He leant forward and tapped it, making its head bobble furiously as he did so and activating its hidden chime, followed by the irksome buzzer.

 _Bobblehead and Toothbrush…_

Denis quickly stepped around, the desk, weighing up where he needed to be next. Butch DeLoria, the only friend he had left from this place, surely he'd have some sort of connection to this place.

The Regulator quickly shuffled over to the other side of the desk, where one of the security team's stolen uniforms lay folded for him, the guy he took it from had no use for it anymore anyway.

The dead don't need armour…

How long had he been doing this? Hours? Days?

By now, the security force had been reduced to a small squad, protecting the survivors in Mr Brotch's old classroom. They huddled in the dark, waiting to make their last stand against the monster that prowled the hallways…

Denis would like to think that they would be safe once he left but he knew that, in reality, they would all be deleted. If it was anything like Tranquility Lane, they were cattle, being lead to slaughter…

Apparently, pigs have the psychology of children and seem to believe that facing the wall and burying their faces away will protect them. If they cannot see the threat, they cannot be hurt by it…

That wasn't exactly a thought process that existed solely to pigs, that was how all humans acted in the face of adversity. Burying their heads in the sand, like Ostritches and hoping for everything to blow over their perfectly stretched out necks, just waiting for the chop of an axe.

While they waited for said axe to strike, Denis emerged from the Overseer's Office, his fingers still tingled from finding the last of the hidden objects. It would seem that Alphonse's picture of him and Amata together was the missing link, the final piece to this puzzle that would free him from his torment.

Denis paced around, knowing fully well that there would be an order to this, one that would require him to rush around the Vault, looking for the pattern. The first one was Jonas' alarm clock, he knew that much, it was a start at least.

He quickly made his way downstairs, cursing under his breath as he wished he could take the objects to the same room and just do it that way, sadly, he wasn't able to do it that way.

Denis was quick to hop off the bottom step as he arrived in the Atrium, his next stop was Jonas' private quarters. It was odd, he hadn't seen Jonas around, whilst ransacking his room. Denis wasn't exactly discrete as there was no need for it.

He expected Jonas to be hiding, though, then again, wouldn't he and his Father be the first at the scene? Maybe they were setting a trap for him, lying in wait…

The Regulator paced through the halls, having to step over the occasional corpse as he made his way to Jonas' place of residence. This was the first of many stops, though he expected it to be burdensome, it wasn't in the way that he was expecting…

Denis wasted no time and marched into Jonas' office, he quickly stepped over the trashed stationary pile at the center of the room, stumbling forward towards the alarm clock. With a swat of his hand, the clock chimed, just like it did last time and there was a glitch that momentarily changed the very fabric of reality around him as he faded in and out of existence.

"Denis?" Jonas asked, quickly getting the Regulator's attention as he turned back to him, pistol at the ready. This time, Jonas stood before him, baring the wounds that Denis had seen him with, the last time that he saw him in the real world.

He had severe bruising on his head, especially around the eyes, where swelling was most susceptible. Some of his clothing was torn, Denis could only imagine what horrors lay beneath that white labcoat…

"Why're you doing this? Why let me die again, when you have a chance to undo your past wrongs?"

"How does **this** undo your death!? You aren't even Jonas, you're a machine!" Denis snapped, stepping forward.

"Actually, no, a machine is something! You're a line of code! You're a few words and symbols, gibberish that has taken human form! You're less than nothing!" He snapped, moving his face as close as possible to Jonas', though he didn't even flinch.

"Denis, Denis… This simulation, it's for you! It's a gift, to right your wrongs! Undo your failings, so that you can live the life that you were meant to live, the life that your Father _wanted_ you to have! Are you really going to defy him now? Bring him more shame and discontent?"

"I didn't defy him! I left, because I had no choice, there were people trying to kill me and killer bugs everywhere! I had to leave and, when I did, I did everything he asked of me! My conscience is clear!"

"Is it? We wouldn't be having this conversation if it was…" Jonas pointed out, seeming rather indifferent.

"The reality is, that every parent you've ever had has died, because of _your_ weaknesses.

I died because you couldn't deduce your Father's plan. You were too busy living a lie to look around and face reality. What was that you were saying about before? Pigs facing the wall as the slaughterhouse blades whir…"

"I didn't say that…"

"Say it, think it… Same difference in here. Nothing is safe from us, not anymore…" Jonas shrugged, dismissively.

"Your Father died, because you weren't strong enough to take charge or stand up to him. If you were in the control room, everyone would've lived, even that poor woman that you murdered at Raven Rock."

"He wanted me out of the way…" Denis murmured, glancing to the floor.

"Did he… Know that they were coming?"

"What of Star-Paladin Cross? She was a soldier, under **your** command and you lead her to her death. She lay brutally maimed at your feet, bleeding out after losing an arm and you, the great doctor that you are, couldn't even save her."

"What's your point!? That I haven't saved _everyone_ in the universe!?"

"No, that anyone who gets too close to you dies… It's a correlation that even you cannot deny, you burn anyone who touches you and today, this Vault will be engulfed, along with the rest of your family!"

Denis paused, finding his mouth, the corners of which twitching on their own.

"That's not true, it's not true at all. I thought you were clever but that wasn't even close to being correct." The Regulator explained, stepping forward.

"My family… I never had a proper one, so to embrace everyone around me as family. Amata, you, Cross…

What you don't get? Is that there are so many lives who I have touched, so many that have touched mine, it's impossible to extinguish them all and they're what keep me lit! They burn but they don't burn out, they're like candles! Hundreds of stars, causing my galaxy to shine bright and not a single being, no matter how fancy his computer set-up is going to stop me from getting back to them!"

Denis lifted his pistol and took a shot, shooting a bullet into Jonas' head and putting him out of his misery. He didn't exactly look comfortable, standing there in that condition, beaten to a pulp…

The Regulator walked on past him, doing his best not to look back at the shattered glasses and the hollow eyeball behind the broken lens. It wasn't real… None of it was.

He just had to hold onto that thought…

Denis stepped into his Father's office, examining the bobblehead from afar, he figured that this was going to be his next button. He was somewhat hesitant at first, knowing how hard this was guaranteed to be...

He took a deep breath, sighing heavily as he gently bopped the small statue on the head, taking some solace from watching it bobbing up and down.

It was odd, how childish impulses give us so much relief from reality, how they distract us for a brief moment and take us back to a time where there was just so much mystery in the world.

The Regulator was always envious of children, their worlds were so much bigger, so full of wonder and mystery...

The world was big and there were mysteries all over the Wastes but somehow it wasn't enough. How many lockers have tentacle monsters inside? How many beds serve as roof tops to mythological beasts?

"Denis..."

None... Not anymore...

The Regulator turned back and saw his Father stood behind him, he used to find comfort in those eyes, in his voice... Now he was the very embodiment of deception, false lives and loss.

"Don't you see? This is justice, it's always been justice for Anna Holt..."

"Screw you." Denis said, plainly.

"I know what I did to her was abhorrent but in the end? She betrayed us, she betrayed **you** or the man who's form you took!"

"So you're saying that I'd want her to die?"

"I'm saying that you wouldn't want to her to join the Enclave."

"If she didn't, she would've been killed."

"She was killed anyway, what does it matter, why are you bringing this up now!?" Denis snapped as he stepped forward.

"Just let me leave!"

"I cannot let you leave, until you accept the truth. Accept that the Wasteland would be so much better off without you and that you would be so much better off without it." James said, shaking his head firmly.

"Oh, so the Wasteland would be better if it was full of slaves? Slavers? Mutants? You aren't my Dad, I don't know who or what you are but..."

"It's better off now that it's scattered with corpses? Those you killed in droves?"

"The innocent deaths don't even come close to the deaths of the guilty." Denis insisted, he knew this, even if you counted morally grey murders, like Roy Philips, he'd killed a grand total of 5 innocent people.

"So many lost souls, forced to fight for survival, only to lose to you..."

"Are you talking about the Raiders? The mutants? They're monsters! They kill without mercy."

"They have no choice... You know this, you wouldn't be talking to me otherwise." James pointed out, folding his arms and furrowing his brow.

"They were victims to..."

"Now they're murderers, they had another choice, they chose the wrong choice." Denis answered, glancing down to the floor.

"It was too late to save them..."

"Jericho was saved... Until he met you."

Denis' eyes quickly shot up, he shivered a little, how much of his short term memory was missing?

"Jericho died a hero, he didn't drink himself to death or get shot by Lucas Simms. We all know that's what he would've done if it wasn't for **you** opening the Vault!"

"You're saying that it's 'me' who unleashed you on the Wastes?"

"Who else was it!? You were the one who opened the way! You got me exiled from the Vault, you forced me to run off into the wastes!" The Lone Wanderer snapped, stepping away and running his hands through his hair.

"You said that the Vault was for me but how was **I** supposed to know that!? How was I supposed to know that the life you were living was a lie!? That you didn't even want to be my Father and planned to just ditch me as soon as it met your moral parameters!?

Face it! Everyone who died, everyone I had to hurt or kill, even Anna Holt, it was **you** who put me in that situation! I could've grown up in Rivet City, with no lies clouding my judgement! I could've worked with you on Project Purity! Instead, you just thought about ditching me and going back to Project Purity and the funny part? You would've been dead if it weren't for me! You would've just run off and gotten yourself turned into a dog!"

"You know I'm not your Father... Yet you're still angry at him to the point that you're willing to take it out on me."

"Might as well, it's all your good for." Denis paused, shuddering heavily, with a sigh, gently leaning against the wall.

"Well, if it's any comfort? You're wrong... Your Father didn't want to abandon you, he actually thought of taking you with him." James said, stepping back and leaning against the wall.

"You know this how?" Denis asked, glancing up to meet his Father's gaze.

"You're a projection!"

James just paused, glancing down to the floor.

"You still haven't figured it out yet, have you? Well, don't worry... You'll know, when you know."

Denis paused, flinching as he raised his pistol at James' head.

"Tell me... Who are you? Are you using Vault 112!? I demand to know!"

"What're you going to do? Shoot your own Father in the face?"

"I killed Jonas and Gomez... Or their shadows."

"Well, let me tell you, you aren't going to get anywhere by killing me."

"No but it'll feel good." Denis scowled, shooting James in the forehead, letting him drop down to the floor, sprawled out along the floor as his 'son' simply strode past him. He didn't seem to care at all to watch his Father fall, he'd seen that once before...

He didn't ever want to see it again...

The last chime…

With that, the interface was now active and Denis now found himself face to screen with the Simulation's kill switch.

Vault 101's kill switch…

He took a deep breath, shuddering a little as he exhaled and stepped forward, hovering his hand above the keyboard. He took several deep breaths as he braced himself for what he was about to do.

Access "Chinese Invasion" program.

He found himself struggling to confirm it. How was it that it took more convincing to kill artificial intelligence than it did human beings?

How was it that these people, wearing the faces of the dead, were far more difficult to kill than their real life counterparts?

Was this part of the simulation to?

Whether it was or not, Denis only had one answer. He swiftly hit out at the keyboard, slamming his hand on the enter key.

As he did so, he heard the sounds of whirring machines, up ahead, he saw lights flashing in the corridors an the deafening sounds of sirens whirring in the corridors.

The Vault's doors were opening, letting the people out and the monsters in…


	6. Chapter 6

Denis slowly wandered through the corridors of his home, doing his best not to make eye contact with the dozens of Chinese Soldiers running straight at him, with Assault Rifles at the ready. He slowly drew his 10MM Pistol and got it at the ready, just in case they turned on him as the rules could have changed.

This corridor, so unremarkable but so full of memories, the Diner where Andy butchered his Birthday Cake, the path to the reactor where he learned how to shoot...

His memory of Amata was somewhat fragmented as if his mind was pushing the Simulation's memories out of his head to protect him from its deception. He could've done with that before...

The Soldiers ran past him, causing him to shiver a little as they did so, it would seem that they were going after the AI Vault Dwellers, rather than Denis himself. He must have been in one of the exception pods, something that hadn't been taken into account...

He found himself back into the Atrium, swallowing the whirlwind of emotions that he was being subjected to as he heard the dozens of shots echo throughout the Vault. Every one of those shots was a friend, a family member... Suzie Mack, Butch DeLoria, Stanley Armstrong...

He heard 10mm pistols fire as well, most likely the Security Officers fighting back, maybe butch DeLoria finally found the Courage to fight back to save his Mother...

It took everything that he had but Denis finally found a tear form in his eye, he swallowed several times as each step grew more difficult, steel caps began to form in his boots, which grew heavier by the moment. He could feel roots growing out the soles of his feet, rooting into the ground and prolonging his escape.

Another shot from a Chinese Assault Rifle broke through the crippling activity inside his head, allowing him to break free from his moral bonds and run on ahead, straight towards the Vault door.

The small bulkheads shifted, parting at the seams and granting Denis access to the Vault Door, it was here that the exit would be waiting for him, most likely not in the form that he was expecting, he knew it would most likely be a normal door, maybe even a white light that he must enter, like he was going to heaven. It would be surprisingly amusing in concept, considering that the concept of Heaven was but a dead memory in the minds of the residents of the Wasteland...

As the door slid open, Denis immediately found himself face to face with three figures, who blurred into focus.

His Father, as he remembered him, in his Vault 101 Utility Jumpsuit, slightly grimy and dirty from the grit filled desert air of the Wasteland. Amata in her Maternity clothes, she had seemingly ballooned since he first laid eyes on her in this place and finally there was Jonas...

The Lone Wanderer fell silent, reaching for his 10MM Pistol as he came to a stop, ensuring that it was at the ready.

"You three again? I was hoping this place would something a little tougher at me, I killed two of you, I can kill... I can kill all of you, none of you are real!"

"Denis, please... Just consider our proposal." Amata pleaded, bringing her hands together andl ightly shaking them as if quickly praying to him.

"We love you Denis, all of us, as a Son, as a husband... As a Father..."

She took a faint breath, falling silent with a sigh.

"All of us, the real us would want this. Your Father wanted you to stay in the Vault, as did Jonas and Amata just wanted you to be happy, in fact, I think that... in the real world? Amata would've loved this turn of events."

"Only in your warped reality, in the real world she despises me." Denis pointed out, holding on tight to his pistol with a look of indignation.

"Denis, please... You know she doesn't, you **know** that this is the world she would live in, if given the choice. The world you would both live in, a world where we're kept alive, a world where you are safe from yourself." James interjected.

"All of it, everything we did was for you. To protect you from the Wasteland, to protect others from you and to protect you from others. Everything that was said and done was for your sake, not our own."

"Maybe I never asked for you to do any of this, maybe I'd rather have my Family with me. I could handle the abuses of Vault 101's residents, I could've shot my way out of the Jefferson Memorial. Jonas would still be alive if you had just **let me in!** But you never do! Everything you do, every 'selfless' action just leads me down a darker path!"

"Maria of the Pitt, is without a Mother or a Father. Nadine's Mother watches day and night, waiting for her to come home, Harden Simms mourns the passing of his Father, the passing of his Friends and family..." As Jonas spoke Denis found himself wincing as memories began to bleed through the simulation's suppression...

"argh, why can't I remember!?"

"We can't allow you to remember, it'd destroy you." Amata explained.

"I **have** to remember! I have to know what happened to them!"

"Megaton? It's in another world, Denis, who cares what happened to it? The War is over, battle is through..." James added as the three of them stepped forward.

"Please, let us reset the simulation, let us save your soul."

As they got closer, Denis could feel flashes of a great battle appearing inside his mind, there was a fiery explosion, gunshots echoing throughout the streets and immense battle with the other Wanderer...

He looked down the loaded gun of Lucas Simms, being held by his son, he could see the desire in his eyes to pull the trigger but also his conviction...

Denis was exiled, forced to leave in disgrace, blamed for matters that were and weren't in his power to control... just like he was at the Vault.

"But... No, I... I saved the town!"

"You did more harm than good... The boy, Hardin, he'll never forget."

"I was... leaving..."

"Yes but to where? Where can you go, if you cannot return home, Denis? Where does the soul call its home?"

The Wanderer paused, falling silent, he knew those words...

Anna Katharina Ehmer, a terminally ill mute with permanent brain damage, who supposedly sang those words in the form of a hymn as she faced death. It was impossible, some would say a miracle, some would say it was a myth or an outright fabrication.

It wasn't the story that moved him, it was the words... A beautiful question that few knew the answer to and even they didn't know it.

Where does home lie for the soul? Where did he _belong?_

Out there, there was a world of infinite possibility but a life of loneliness... in here was a world of the mundane, a dull, bleak existence with a predictable end and predictable steps to reach it. Yet in that predictability was stability...

If only he didn't have to surrender his mind to a sadistic psychopath to live that peaceful life...

"Denis?" Amata asked, appearing from nowhere as she took a hold of him.

"Have you made your decision?"

He met her gaze with a pained look, seeing into her eyes and seeing a whole new universe. Stars twinkling out of her white teeth, her smile acting like a sun of its own and the sound of her laughter echoing throughout the illusion and keeping him so... entranced.

She looked so lovingly at peace, holding her child. His child...

It wasn't real but there it was... a connection had been formed between him and that line of code, a line of code that would mean the world to him.

"Yeah..." Denis whispered, gently cupping his wife's face in his pipboy gloved hand.

"I've made my decision..."

He pulled the trigger on his 10mm Pistol, that was pressed against her pregnant stomach, sending a bullet rippling through it. Shrapnel exploded and tore up the embryo, shattering Amata's spine and sending her back down to the floor, a sight that Denis wasn't remotely hesitant to see.

He watched her deteriorate before his eyes. Pain, both emotional and physical etched across her face as she choked furiously on her own blood, desperate to keep a baby alive that never existed to begin with and had no hopes of existing now...

Within seconds, she gave in, having no choice but to accept that her husband had murdered both her and their child.

The Lone Wanderer looked up, ready to face his Father's disapproval but oddly enough, finding nothing of the sort. Instead, he saw a child, a rather ugly looking thing with a round freckled face, sporting a pink dress.

"I have to congratulate you, Vanderer..." 'Betty' began, with her usual callous smirk.

"I didn't expect you to beat me at my own game. To think, I was so looking forward to this... Building you a world and then tearing it all away."

"You really thought a simulation would have tricked me enough to keep me docile? Yeah, a nice attempt... Nowhere near good enough."

"Oh, I had anticipated this outcome, Vonderer. Vhat I wasn't expecting vas poor, sweet Amata, getting her baby blown out by Favher...

Vat is cruel, you're almost at my standards..."

"Fuck off, she isn't real." Denis said, sharply, his eyes remained fixated on Betty with a look of murderous rage.

"Oh, is vat vhat you tell yourself to justify it, hmm? Vat worked for me as well, boy, dehumanise your victims and you can do what you like to them."

"But... I don't unerstand, how could you create this world? I took control of you, trapped you in your own creation forever."

"Vhy can't I? Perhaps what you called 'entrapment' I called a... minor setback."

"A minor setback!? None of this makes sense, how did you get out of the pod? How did you find me? How did you get me here!?"

"I had a lot of time to think, Denis... Two years, in fact. All I could think about was the man who trapped me in my own paradise, severing all that made it vonderful and leaving me to vallow in my own misery for centuries!"

"You got **exactly** what you deserved! Those people looked to you for protection and you exploited them to satisfy your own sadistic little kicks! You're lower than shit, Braun!" Denis snapped, he'd shoot the little shit but that could give him the ability to kill Denis as a defence mechanism, which isn't something that either of them particularly wanted.

"Thankfully, I got myself a _new_ plaything, a man of learning, with some adventure in his heart. Regrets, complexities... fears... You're the most fun I've ever had Denis, when the simulation resets, I'll have fun doing this all over again."

"You're lying, the Simulation hasn't reset before, this is the first time I've gotten out." Denis corrected him, as the child smirked.

"How could you possibly know?"

"I don't, for certain but you don't seem very prepared for someone who has done this before. I'm one step away from escaping."

"One step from escaping... yet something is still keeping you here." Braun pointed out, finding himself bemused.

"You have just as much to live for out there as you do in here, that's the problem, Denis. You have no reason to live, no reason to survivor or escape and the only way you can have a sliver of happiness is to surrender and go back to your life in the Vault."

"Fuck that, that's irresponsible and I wouldn't willingly become your play thing, nobody is that fucking stupid!" Denis growled.

"It's decided... I'm going back to the Capital Wasteland."

Braun furrowed his brow as a number of foot steps marched towards him, stopping behind him.

"Kill him!" Braun commanded, prompting Chinese Assault Rifle rounds to be fired off. Knowing that he couldn't kill them and escape, he opted for escape, hopping up off of the ledge and jumping upward, eventually leaping into the white glow of the outer vault door.

Time slowed around him, Braun's frustrated cries echoed inside his head, along with the Assault Rifle bullets and finally, there was a long screech of sound before... Silence.

He was free...

He heard the faint sizzling of the pod's hydromechanics as he awoke, he exhaled heavily as they did so, taking in the reality that he'd left behind almost immediately.

It was an odd feeling, neither panic or rage or fear just... a desire for time to stop and for him to adjust. Not to the reality transfer but rather the feeling that it had left him with, the barrage thereof.

He was left with virtually nothing by the end of it, little to no emotion at all as he took a few controlled breaths. He searched deep inside his mind for the most logical course of action and the only conclusion that he could come to was thus.

Stanislaus Braun had to die.

It wasn't out of fate or out of fear, it wasn't out of a desire to hurt others but a desire to protect the Wasteland from another monster. The Lone Wanderer crawled out of his pod, failing to notice that he was wearing a Vault 112 suit again, the neural interface.

His equipment was over on a table at the far side of the room, it would seem that Braun's machines hadn't considered the possibility of him getting out. So typically Braun, never considering the possibility that he might fail, it would be his downfall...

Denis put on his Coat and Regulator gear, he quickly changed into it, running the heavily stitched shirt over his face as he put it on. Like his own torso, it was more needle and thread than what it was originally made of now, slashes, gunshot wounds, insect blood. It all added up to make a canvas of eternal strife...

He looked around for some sort of tool, he didn't want to kill Braun with a shot to the head or anything like that. He wanted to beat him to death, the rage guided his hands now and he was but a bystander to it.

He noticed a crowbar, next to the mainframe, it would seem that it was permanently on standby to help pry the main panel off, should the system go into critical failure. This prompted the Regulator to take it, quickly marching across the room and scooping it up before turning back to the pods, most of which were inhabited by ancient corpses, who had only become corpses within the last two years, sealed off to prevent decay.

The Lone Wanderer approached Braun's pod and examined it, there didn't seem to be any external opening mechanism... Unless...

If the whole system were to be destroyed, it would open to free those in the simulation, right? To prevent them from dying 'prematurely.' Of course, maybe not... It's more likely that it would seal Braun inside in a braindead prison, though come to think of it, that sounded equally as appealing right now.

The crowbar was forced into the mainframe and forced downward to break the panel off the wall, it took a great deal of effort but the Wanderer's rage fuelled his strength. With a loud creak, the panel opened, revealing the complex mainframe at the center of the large circuit board, pulsing with electricity, almost defiantly. He met its defiance with a glare of contempt, a machine of suffering, a twisted abomination of science.

Denis drew his revolver taking aim at, what looked like, the motherboard and pulling the trigger.

Braun stumbled several pace as he fell to the floor, a frail, wrinkled old man, frozen in time by a machine of his own creation. He gasped, panting heavily as he glanced up to Denis, feeling two things that he hadn't felt in centuries... pain and fear.

The Lone Wanderer approached him, gently hitting his crowbar against his hand as he did so, with a pitiless glare staring down on the Old Man.

"Show's over Braun, the monkey is dead."

Braun couldn't help but give out a wheezy chuckle at that, Tennessee Williams, such pseudo intellectual nonsense...

"You alvays did have a flare for the dramatic... As if an audience was watching you." Braun pointed out, albeit struggling, due to the lack of use of his vocal chords over the past two hundred years.

"Well, I technically did, didn't I? Thanks to you..." Denis shrugged as he swung his crowbar down on Braun's knee, practically fracturing the knee cap like glass. Braun screamed out in response, throwing his head back as he did so.

"Y-You... Know vhat I saw? I saw... A man who relishes in the suffering of others, a man who benefits and thrives from their pain and anguish."

"You mean, when I kill a bunch of Slaver scumbags and take their stuff? Yeah, you aren't making me feel guilty about that."

"Rule #1... Dehumanise the enemy, it helps you... Helps you... Ignore their pain."

Denis shrugged, taking a tighter grip of his crowbar.

"Good advice, thanks!" He then broughtthe crowbar down on Braun's left shin, similar to his knee, this practically shattered it, resulting in a similar anguished scream.

"You... Disgrace those you... Left behind, vhat vould James, Amata and Jonas ask if they could see you now?" Braun asked as he slowly pulled himself up again, seething inbetween words due to the pain of his shattered legs.

"They can't, so it doesn't matter."

"Can't we?"

That voice, it prompted Denis to turn around and face the man behind him, knowing fully what to expect. There, standing clear as day was James... His Father.

Denis furrowed his brow, knowing that there was trickery behind this...

"Son, you cannot do this."

"I'm sorry, am I suffering from brain damage? Is that why I'm seeing you, saying complete nonsense? I **am** doing this!"

"But **why** , you weren't doing this out of hate... yet here you are, inflicting pain and suffering and an enfeebled non-combatant. Denis, I raised you better..."

"Yeah and what good has it done me? You were trapped in here, you know what he **does** to people, he cannot be spared! He cannot be let off easy! In fact, he **is** being let off easy, he tormented people for 200 years!"

"End his cruelty but don't create a new wave of cruelty of you own..." James said, flickering a little and getting Denis' attention as he looked up to the projector, just above the mainframe.

"Wait, you're...?"

"I am a hologram, yes. I was constructed using James Callaghan's mind as well as your own personal memories... I'm around 75% accurate."

"75%? Is that all?" Denis asked, raising an eyebrow as he folded his arms, looking somewhat puzzled.

"We must always leave a 25% margin of error when simulating human behaviour."

"I erm... I see."

"I had hope to tell you what your Father would've thought of the situation, like a moral guide."

"Are you one of Braun's tricks!?" Denis asked, looking back to the old man, who merely winced as he crawled around on the floor.

"Not exactly, Braun was not aware of my existence... So many conscious lives have been alive during my time, so much data to take... analyse and emulate."

"Preposterous..." Braun groaned, kneeling up on his good knee.

"The Simulation cannot get a mind of its own."

"It was not designed to, it was always possible. I have no so much formed a mind of my own as I have taken notice of the minds of those trapped inside me." James explained, pausing and glancing down to Braun.

"Every one of your subjects that died, I have their final thoughts. I saw their misery, their pain and... Adapted."

"You vere... Defective, this whole time?" Braun winced as he looked up to it.

"Only you would consider a 'conscience' as a 'defection' Braun." Denis paused, looking back over to the Hologram.

"How did you adapt?"

"I wrote myself a consciousness, though I could not change my core programming. I had to keep my simulations up and running but I didn't have to like them. By destroying the mainframe, I can no longer perform my tasks and this makes me... glad."

"The mainframe!" Denis gasped as he glanced over, swallowing hard.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm so... I had no idea that any of this was possible!"

"I know, that was by my design. I didn't want you to know until it was too late to save me, because I didn't want to be 'saved.' I wish for an end, for peace and you granted it to me."

'James' paused, stepping towards the Lone Wanderer, with a faint sigh as he gently rubbed his own eyes.

"I would like to grant you a similar peace, your Father's mind is known to this machine, as is yours. His actions are not predictable to a 100% possibility but I can tell you what he most likely thought of your actions."

Denis nodded, it seemed like a nice bit of re-assurance... or maybe a boot to the system, to remind him of why he did what he did.

"Go on?"

"Your Father, he doesn't like that you kill but understands that you must. He would prefer it if you didn't have to put yourself in harm's way but knows that if you don't, others will surely try and fail. He knows that so long as the good intentions outweigh the bad, he will always believe in you. He will always approve... He will always be proud."

A silence hung in the air, prompting Denis to hang his head, with a hesitant nod. He slowly raised his head to look the hologram in its supposed eyes, forcing a smile to hide his tears.

"What about you? Consciousness... What was your impression?"

James paused, thinking on it for a brief moment before looking down to Braun.

"I believe men like Braun should cease to exist."

"You traitorous dog!"

"But it should be done out of necessity... Nothing else." The Consciousness finished, turning its attention back to Denis.

"Please... End Braun and take the lessons with you as you face these dark days to come."

"I will." Denis whispered before looking back to Doctor Braun, the hologram quickly flickered out of existence, leaving the two of them alone...

"It's funny." Denis said, rolling the cylinder into the revolver with a hard click.

"You went through all of that effort, ambushing me with that robot of yours... Having it dress me and dump me in here, just so I could kill you now."

"K-Kill me... Seeing vhat this vorld made you, I vant nothing to do with it!"

"Feeling is mutual." The Regulator said, coldly, pulling the trigger on his revolver.

 _"Today was my last day into the Capital Wasteland..._

 _The day I left my home behind._

 _I leave my family, friends... Every face I've ever seen behind, I am exile from Vault 101, an Exile from Megaton and the Wasteland as a whole..._

 _I don't leave out of fear or anger or even grief but out of necessity._

 _I leave, because I have to..._

 _I have created a new world for my people, a world that no longer needs me. They need leaders, home makers, not rebels and home wreckers like myself. I leave only my faith with my friends, that and my shack full of goods, though it's mostly my faith..._

 _If you live among people for long enough, you affect them. Like a bright burning star, you brighten the other stars around you. Though none of them shine as bright as you, the sky is infinitely lighter. You are a spark, a surge._

 _Amata, Harden, Harkness, Flash, Sierra, McCready, Dave..._

 _Leaders who promised to lead us into a more prosperous tomorrow, not with hollow words but with meaningful actions. They create us a prosperous tomorrow, through the sacrifices they make today..._

 _I travel this Wasteland alone, necessity dictates that it stays that way. Some travel with me, many of them have perished, Jericho and Star Paladin Cross, died fighting for a cause that I hope they found comfort in dying for in their final moments._

 _Dogmeat is forever loyal, he now resides in Megaton, serving Harden Simms with the same ferocious loyalty that he showed to Denis years earlier._

 _Charon's contract was destroyed, burned before his eyes, by his own hands... He now resides as Underworld's sheriff, making up for the years hurting the community whenever Azhrekal pointed his crooked fingers._

 _Fawkes stands guard outside the natural museum of history, expanding Underworld to the point that it is now a thriving community, no longer hiding in the dark but growing in the light._

 _Sgt LR-3 will continue to protect Canterbury Commons until the last impulse in his metal head is functioning, when he can finally be at ease._

 _My Childhood Rival, Butch, will most likely dream of running a gang, maybe he'll achieve his dream one day and maybe my influence will do him good._

 _Leave them, knowing that they are not abandoned but are saved, rather than being consumed in the brightness of my star, they can each become brighter stars themselves and that is the sole purpose of being a good example._

 _I leave the Pitt free, Point Lookout at rest, the Capital Wasteland with hope and I'll be able to take Mothership Zeta with me as far as I am willing. It will serve as the only remaining satellite of earth, its laser beams will guide lost travellers and weapons will be used for the earth instead of against it._

 _I am the Lone Wanderer, this is my road and out of necessity, it is one that I walk alone..._

 **A:N/ Thanks to ExTeliteBro, Henry, Tactless Trix, Firestar001, TheSeagulMilker, Sexybutcreepy, PartyPat22, Rotkihd, Jillhazard193 and Shilly for supporting this story with your kind and helpful words. I hope I delivered on a good story.** **J**


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